


Better Than

by popfly



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-11-08
Updated: 2004-11-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 08:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popfly/pseuds/popfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gapfiller for season one, episode fifteen. No one believes Brian can take care of Gus, other than Justin of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Than

I was feeling pretty good, sitting in the booth at the diner. I'd had a decent bowl of soup - decent by diner standards at least - and things had gone good that day with Gus. I was giving Mikey a little ribbing about the doc's son coming for a visit, and Justin's knee bumped against my shoulder every time he leaned forward to join in. It felt nice, and whether it was my son bouncing happily in his car seat on the table or the fact that it was abnormally warm in the diner, I didn't give much thought to that and just enjoyed it.

Then Debbie slid into the booth, shoving Michael into the corner and cooing over Gus. Normally her baby talk made my blood boil but that night I just grinned and let her indulge. I even kept my snide comments to a minimum after she declared that I was unfit to water plants let alone take care of my own son for a weekend.

My spirits stayed fairly high until she brought up the Leather Ball, and even then they didn't dip too low. After all, what was one more night at Babylon - even if it was a night when everyone was wearing leather chaps or less - compared to proving to everyone that I could be a responsible father, or more importantly simply proving them wrong?

"I know it's tempting," I said when she mentioned it. "But this year I'm trading in my leather jock strap for rubber pants." I lifted Gus out of his car seat and held him to my chest. "Isn't that right Sonny Boy?" I smiled down at him and then glanced over just in time to catch sight of a hot guy in chaps. Fuck. He smirked at me and sauntered out of the diner, and I followed his ass out the door with my eyes.

"Brian," Justin said, slapping my shoulder.

"What? I can still look can't I?" I lifted my eyebrows up at him, pressing my cheek against Gus's - what had Linds called it? - beanie cap.

"You're practically giving him new holes in his ass with your eyes," Debbie said, popping her gum and narrowing her eyes.

"Ma," Mikey groaned, wrinkling his nose.

"What?" Deb looked around, the picture of innocence. I tried not to snort.

"He was staring pretty hard," Justin said, shaking his head.

"Hello, I'm still sitting here," I gripped Gus tighter to me with one arm so I could wave my free hand in Justin's face. "And I wasn't staring _that_ hard."

Justin giggled and Mikey scoffed and Deb just quirked a corner of her mouth into her cheek. "Whatever you say," Justin murmured, patting my head. I swatted his hand away and I could feel whatever good things I was feeling earlier start to ebb.

"You guys really don't think I can handle this, do you?" I let my glare travel from face to face, lingering on Justin. He sobered up as soon as my eyes caught his and I noticed the almost imperceptible shake of his head. His hand came back to my head, but this time it smoothed down to the nape of my neck and around to squeeze my shoulder.

"Well, you know, kiddo, you haven't exactly spent a huge amount of time with Gus," Debbie said, folding her hands in front of her.

"Yeah, Brian it's not that we don't think you can do it, it's just that you don't really have the experience." Mikey nodded, his eyes wide. I just sneered.

"How many times do I have to tell people that I'll be fine, that we'll be fine?" I settled Gus into his chair and buckled him in, focusing on the task, and making sure he was properly bundled up. I pushed at Justin's legs and he hopped down from his perch on the back of the booth. "We'll be fine," I repeated, dropping some bills on the table and grabbing the handle of Gus's carrier. I swung him up and stalked towards the door.

I shoved out into the brisk night air and headed towards the Jeep.

"Brian!"

I stopped at the curb but I didn't turn around. Justin came up beside me and held out a styrofoam container. I looked from the little white box up to his face.

"Lemon bars. For later."

I nodded once, slowly, and took the box. "Thanks." I tucked it under my arm and went to unlock the door.

"And for what it's worth, I know you'll be fine."

I looked back up and he just smiled a little before turning and heading back into the diner.

I secured Gus's chair in the backseat and walked around the Jeep to get in the driver's side. Justin's declaration hadn't really caught me off guard. Somehow I knew he was probably the one person that really thought I could do it, despite his earlier comments.

I buckled my seat belt and glanced at the Styrofoam container on the passenger seat. I reached over and opened it, lifting one out and taking a bite.

It tasted better than usual.


End file.
